Faucet decorative system

ABSTRACT

The use of a faucet adapted to receive toy construction building blocks so that they can be used to decorate a faucet.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a faucet decoration system. In particular it relates to a faucet system comprising a faucet adapted to receive toy construction building blocks as a decorative element.

2. Description of Related Art

The water faucet comprises externally unfinished apparatus comprising one or two water delivery conduits and a means for regulating the flow of water therethrough. In many cases there is regulation for both hot and cold water. Some form of sheathing is normally added to the faucet to give it an attractive appearance. Normally once one has purchased a faucet, the design of the faucet is what you get. If one desires to change the design, the user is faced with purchasing a new faucet.

Recently there has been a design where shell elements can be purchased and adapted to place on the unfinished faucet apparatus in a clamshell two-piece format such that by buying replacement shells, the appearance of the faucet can be changed. However, one is still limited to the purchase of a new shell each time the design is changed.

Toy construction sets having inter-connectable bricks or pieces, are well known for children to play with, and construct a limitless number of constructed shapes. There are many well known construction toy sets such as K'nex, Lego and Mega blocks as well as many other lesser available construction toys. The toys all have an inter-connect system comprising a connection element such as the round raised bumps of Lego building blocks. As an example, the columnar raised bumps of Legos are in many cases 1.7 mm high, 5 mm in diameter, and 3 mm between bumps. Manufacturing tolerances are as high as 10 micrometers in order to insure all the parts inter connect with one another. Typical blocks are made of ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer though numerous other plastics have and can be utilized in their manufacture. Historically there have even been wooden type interlocking bricks of the Lego type. These types of toys have been available since the late 1940's. They have been used to decorate a variety of devices by building the blocks around the device.

One thing missing from the faucet market is a way to continually change the decoration of a faucet without having to continually buy new shells. In addition, there is currently no custom system for a user of a faucet to adapt the faucet to their own designs.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to adapting a faucet to be able to directly attach toy construction building block elements, such as Lego-like building blocks, in order to construct a decorative exterior which can be changed by replacing the building blocks in a pattern with the building blocks in another pattern.

Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention there is an externally unfinished faucet adapted for interchangeable exterior decorative elements to define the external appearance of the externally unfinished faucet comprising a plurality of toy construction set components friction connector elements attached to the unfinished faucet such that toy construction set elements can be directly attached to the faucet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the externally unfinished faucet.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of Lego-style bricks being added to the unfinished faucet.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the unfinished faucet finished externally with Lego-style bricks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While this invention is susceptible to embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure of such embodiments is to be considered as an example of the principles and not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and described. In the description below, like reference numerals are used to describe the same, similar or corresponding parts in the several views of the drawings. This detailed description defines the meaning of the terms used herein and specifically describes embodiments in order for those skilled in the art to practice the invention.

DEFINITIONS

The terms “about” and “essentially” mean ±10 percent.

The terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one or as more than one. The term “plurality”, as used herein, is defined as two or as more than two. The term “another”, as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having”, as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled”, as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically.

The term “comprising” is not intended to limit inventions to only claiming the present invention with such comprising language. Any invention using the term comprising could be separated into one or more claims using “consisting” or “consisting of” claim language and is so intended.

Reference throughout this document to “one embodiment”, “certain embodiments”, and “an embodiment” or similar terms means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of such phrases or in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments without limitation.

The term “or” as used herein is to be interpreted as an inclusive or meaning any one or any combination. Therefore, “A, B or C” means any of the following: “A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C”. An exception to this definition will occur only when a combination of elements, functions, steps or acts are in some way inherently mutually exclusive.

The drawings featured in the figures are for the purpose of illustrating certain convenient embodiments of the present invention, and are not to be considered as limitation thereto. Term “means” preceding a present participle of an operation indicates a desired function for which there is one or more embodiments, i.e., one or more methods, devices, or apparatuses for achieving the desired function and that one skilled in the art could select from these or their equivalent in view of the disclosure herein and use of the term “means” is not intended to be limiting.

As used herein an “externally unfinished faucet” refers to the parts of the inner workings of a water faucet designed to deliver water from plumbing fixtures or pipes, without the external decorative elements. The external elements are adapted to cover the visible portion of the faucet that is above the sink or counter to which they are attached. The parts of the faucet that are below that level or otherwise hidden and not externally covered are therefore not part of the externally unfinished part of the faucet. Faucets have other names such as “taps” and “spigots” but all are intended herein. The faucet can have one or two handles for hot and cold water mixing and one or two spouts for delivering water to the user. In most cases where there is one water spout there is a plumbing device for mixing the hot and cold water.

As used herein “exterior decorative elements” refers to elements attached to the externally unfinished part of the faucet for creating a decorative exterior on the faucet. The particular elements of the present invention are “interchangeable,” that is different parts can be added or subtracted to the exterior to make different designs and create a virtually infinite number of designs with the parts. The elements in the present invention are a plurality of “toy construction set components.” These are children's component building blocks and building elements which interconnect by friction connector elements. Examples are stated above and in one embodiment the Lego-like building blocks are such elements which can be utilized to decorate the unfinished faucet. Any type of toy construction pieces can be utilized, but for purposes of example, the Lego-like elements are described in the drawings. The Lego-like bricks have four, six, or more raised cylindrical friction connector elements machined to high tolerance for interconnecting the elements to build construction type toys. A plurality of components are attached to the faucet to create an external decorative appearance.

In the present invention the externally unfinished faucet has attached or built into it a plurality of friction connector elements such that the set components can be attached. The connector elements can be on the body, the handles, the water spout, or any combination of those together. While the toy components will tend to be plastic, the elements on the unfinished faucet will be of a material suitable to attach to the faucet. For example, while they could be plastic, metal such as brass or the like can be utilized for attachment since these materials may be more compatible. In one embodiment they are different materials depending on where they are and what the material is they are attaching to, e.g. plastic in one place that's plastic and metal on the metal parts or the like. By attaching the elements directly to the faucet, they can operate the faucet and remain on the faucet as an integral part of the faucet. Only some of the components need to be attached directly to the unfinished faucet as others will build on the elements attached to the faucet. While there could be one or two attachment points, the faucet could be covered all over or as needed based on the unfinished faucet design.

Now referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an externally unfinished faucet with friction elements. The faucet 1 has handles 2, spout 3, and body 4. Water delivery connectors 6 are either covered by handles 2 or are underneath the counter. The handles 2 allow the water 8 to be turned on or off as desired. On each of the handles 2, spout 3, and body 4 there are friction connector elements 10. The friction connector elements 10 in this embodiment are cylindrical friction connectors designed and adapted to receive a Lego-like toy brick. In this example the entire faucet is covered, however, in other embodiments only a portion of the faucet is covered. Once again, a key element is the direct attachment of the bricks rather than building anything around the faucet.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the faucet of FIG. 1 wherein Lego-type building blocks 11 are in the process of being added to the connector elements 10, i.e. in the process of building up the exterior components.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the faucet 1 of FIG. 1 wherein the decorative process is complete though more could be added or taken away as desired.

Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make modifications resulting in other embodiments employing principles of the present invention without departing from its spirit or characteristics, particularly upon considering the foregoing teachings. Accordingly, the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative, and not restrictive, and the scope of the present invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description or drawings. Consequently, while the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, modifications of structure, sequence, materials and the like apparent to those skilled in the art still fall within the scope of the invention as claimed by the applicant. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An externally unfinished faucet adapted for interchangeable exterior decorative elements to define the external appearance of the externally unfinished faucet comprising a plurality of toy construction set components friction connector elements attached to the unfinished faucet such that toy construction set elements can be directly attached to the faucet.
 2. The faucet according to claim 1 wherein the toy construction set components are brick-type construction elements.
 3. The faucet according to claim 2 wherein the brick-type element is a Lego-type brick element.
 4. The faucet according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of elements are used to cover the faucet.
 5. The faucet according to claim 1 wherein the friction connector elements are a plurality of raised cylindrical friction connectors.
 6. The faucet according to claim 1 wherein one or more toy construction set components are directly attached to the faucet by attaching them to the friction connector elements attached to the faucet.
 7. The faucet according to claim 6 wherein the toy construction set elements are Lego-like construction blocks. 